Casey Hathaway: Multi-day search for missing N.C. 3-year-old ends with boy being found safe in wooded area

By Bill Hand bill.hand@newbernsj.com

Friday

Jan 25, 2019 at 2:32 PMJan 25, 2019 at 2:32 PM

Casey Hathaway is alive and in his mother’s arms.

The 3-year-old ended three and a half days of wandering through the woods near his Ernul, N.C., home in freezing temperatures and pouring rain with only a light jacket to protect him from the cold.

According to his mother, Casey told her he met a bear out there, and that it was his friend for the couple of days he was missing.

He was wet, cold, and scratched up — but alive and doing remarkably well, according to Shane Grier, captain of the Chocowinity search team who is credited with finding him.

“We responded to a tip,” Grier said, “and located (him) by voice. We went to him and disentangled him from briars he was hung up in, and brought him out.” He added that he was cold but speaking — Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes said that as soon as he heard Grier’s voice he asked for his mother Brittany — and “the more we warmed him up, the more active he became.”

Hughes said Grier had to wade waist-deep through water to get to him.

“I think, for the conditions out there, he did very well,” Grier added. “We’re very fortunate.”

Casey was found Thursday evening at about 9 p.m. He had been missing since 1 p.m. Tuesday when he wandered off from his great-grandmother’s backyard at 200 Toler Road. He had been playing there with two other children.

When the great-grandmother realized he was gone she searched for about half an hour and called 911.

Since that time the rural, heavily wooded spot in the northeast corner of Craven County was filled with hundreds of volunteer searchers. On some days, Hughes said, he had four or five hundred volunteers searching the area in grids.

Along with amateur searchers were numerous trained searchers from firemen to numerous state, county and city police agencies, the SBI and FBI. Dogs were brought in by police and locals added their own dogs to the sniffing force, but it was a tip from a local resident that proved to be the key to finding Casey in the end.

A mobile command unit was brought in, a tent pitched, port-a-potties added, and generator-powered floodlights set up along Toler Road.

Tuesday night had frigid temperatures while Wednesday night and Thursday morning brought heavy rain that made already-flooded woods even harder to negotiate and more dangerous for Casey.

The worsening weather caused Hughes and county emergency management who took over managing the search parties, to turn to only trained searchers on Thursday.

A local church was used as the staging area for searchers, and churches, organizations and individuals kept them supplied with food and drink.

For Hughes, who just won his first term as sheriff last November and only started his term in December, it was a trial by fire. He thanked the outpouring of help he received from both the community and law enforcement for their help and said, “We couldn’t have done it without them."

“It was folks giving us tips and leads, and the rescue team jumping right out on it,” he said. “It paid off. I could not be happier by the outcome.”

He added that a key element of the whole search was Hughes’ relationship with other agencies, particularly the FBI.

Casey was taken to CarolinaEast Medical Center to be treated where Hughes said he was up and talking. “When he saw his little sister, he had a big smile on his face,” he said, “and I tell you, it was very touching.”

Hughes said a forensic psychologist will interview Casey once he has had time to recover.

He was admitted to the hospital and is expected to go home Saturday.

Casey’s mother and father, Brittany and Chris Hathaway, spoke briefly at an 11 p.m. news conference. “We just want to tell everybody we’re very thankful that you took the time to come search for Casey and prayed for him, and he’s good,” she said. “He’s up and talking. He’s already asked to watch Netflix.”

His father also thanked the community for their prayers.

Hughes said he was found about a quarter mile from home, 40 to 50 yards off Aurora Road.

Hughes said the case has been handled as a missing child from the beginning. “At no time did we see any indications of an abduction,” he said. “That’s why an Amber Alert was not put out. Had there been the slightest (indication) we would have done that.

“That’s not to say as we continue to follow all leads that come in, that something doesn’t show up,” he added, “But as of right now there’s no evidence that indicates that.”

Hughes said the search drew more attention to needs for Craven County deputies — especially in the area of getting four-wheel drive vehicles and Viper communications system to replace the inefficient system most of the deputies now have. Hughes said that, because of the systems, there were times he had difficulty keeping in touch with them. The current county cruisers also got stuck in mud more than once.

Hughes hopes the county will address the needs in a February meeting.

Morale in the department is high after the operation, he said. “Everybody’s very excited, very thankful,” he said.

“We brought Casey to his family, just like we said we were going to do,” Hughes said. “We did not give up. We were persistent.”

At the news conference, his first words wrapped the whole thing up: “It’s a great evening, folks.”

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